take heart, brothers and sisters
So I’ve noticed that the audio of DVDs I play on Mac OS X’s DVD Player often comes out compressed, and very poorly. Meaning, in this case, compression of dynamic range, not compression of data. Somewhere in the audio chain is a compressor with an obnoxiously long release, and I know the soundtrack designer didn’t want it there, and I want to turn it off. It kills any dialogue, for example, that occurs right after a sound loud enough in the right frequency range to trigger it. This is not cool.
I have not found a preference for it in the application, and google doesn’t seem to know anything about it, either. I’m sort of surprised, because seriously: it’s really annoying and there are movie/home theater geeks far geekier than I whom I’d expect to be throwing all kinds of internet hissy fits. Apple needs to fix this pronto.
I did find a reference to something called “midnight mode” in this FAQ. Sounds like my little overzealous compressor. Now how the heck do I turn it off?
Anyway, I don’t have an answer, but I wanted to provide a word of commiseration for others who may be searching the night for comraderie — for fellowship — in this cold, unfeeling world of unjustly compressed DVD audio. You are not alone.